Has anyone here successfully converted a Gen1 Crossfire to a Duet2/3?
What advantages do I get out of just upgrading to the Gen2 Upgrade + THC?
My background is electronics, 3D printing hardware and firmware. I design, build and 3D repair printers.
The control board doesn’t seem like there is alot to it a glance. Are the advantages only the software/firmware? What chipset is on the driver board?
Is that why they don’t sell the hardware upgrade without the THC for Gen1?
Welcome to the forum.
Why would you replace a working $33 board with one that costs over $180?
Langmuir developed their own controller board and added THC module to it. The THC implementation won’t work on a Gen1 system. And the software on the Gen2 system is proprietary (although appears to be GRBL based) and undocumented.
Because I have them laying around doing nothing and they were free. Also 32 bit + WIFI + TMC controllers.
I know THC won’t work on Gen1, that is why I asked why they won’t sell the upgrade without THC.
If I don’t necessarily need THC. What am I losing out on?
I sent an email to support before I asked this question BTW.
Having some ‘laying around’ makes more sense. I think you can buy a Z only upgrade for Gen1, but that would be a lot more expensive than simply adding your own Z Axis and then adapting your Duet controllers to control the three axis. I would highly recommend adding at Third party THC controller, eg THC3-T02, because the signal processing and voltage isolation need to do THC right is an Art. THC3-T02 did it right. IMO, LS did not.
There are a number of early posts on adding THC to an LS Plasma Cutter, they are a worthwhile read IMO.
THC is useful if you have warped material, thin material (less than 3/16") that tends to warp due to heat, or an early CF with the cantilevered X Rail, which tends to not move planar to the workpiece.
I had seen some of the open source THC controller projects the one I picked up came with the Razorweld Cut 45 CNC.
Thanks for the tip! I am going to be cutting parts for 3D printers and frame parts for mopeds in aluminum and steel. My first project is going to be a custom 5 gallon fuel tank for an Icebear Maddog that I designed in Fusion 360.
I was going to search through the forum to see if there were any fixes for known issues for this model and leave it stock until I have a better idea of what my workflow will be.
Any of the blowback type of Plasma Cutters can be used with a THC system if you’re willing to open up the unit and add wires directly to the Torch and Work Clamp connections. Some of the ‘CNC’ type of units bring the sense voltage out to a connector but with varying degrees of internal resistance that may or may not interfere with the accuracy of the read. The unit I mentioned, the THC3T-02 has a number of inputs so you can easily match the type of output from your Plasma Cutter.
I found the link to the unit mentioned.
Is there anything else that I should get ‘Quality of Life’ improvements wise?
The ‘secret’ to good Plasma Cutting is:
That’s pretty much it, it’s actually a very easy CNC tool to implement. Oh, one other thing, Have a good source of DRY air and plenty of it.
I’m starting to sense a pattern here… 
This is what I am using for air currently with a dryer. I picked it up from a computer store that was closing down before the pandemic.
Quincy Air Master 3.5-HP 60-Gallon (Belt Drive) Single Stage Cast-Iron Air Compressor
Model: Q13160V
Where is the source code for the GRBL based firmware used on these devices located?
It’s proprietary to Langmuir. This is not an open source platform.
Was the original firmware based on any of the code from GRBL? Has anyone verified this?
